A private-equity investor and former senior Staples executive, John Wilson, has been sentenced in federal court in Boston for falsely claiming that payments he made to secure his son’s admission to the University of Southern California (USC) were tax-deductible as a business expense and charitable contribution. The sentencing, handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Leo T. Sorokin, includes one year of probation, with the initial six months to be served in home detention, along with 250 hours of community service. Additionally, Wilson has been fined $75,000 and ordered to pay $88,546 in restitution.
In October 2021, Wilson was convicted by a federal jury on various counts, including conspiracy to commit fraud, wire fraud, bribery, and filing a false tax return. He was initially sentenced in February 2022 to 15 months in prison, two years of supervised release, 400 hours of community service, a $200,000 fine, and restitution of $88,546. However, in May 2023, the First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction for filing a false tax return while vacating and remanding the remaining counts.
The evidence presented during the trial revealed that in 2013, Wilson agreed to pay William “Rick” Singer $220,000 to help his son gain admission to USC as a water polo recruit, despite his son not being involved in the sport at a collegiate level. Wilson sought a fake invoice for business consulting fees from Singer to make payments through his private investment firm’s corporate account. He later used the firm’s corporate account to transfer $100,000 to Singer’s sham charity, the Key Worldwide Foundation, $100,000 to Singer’s for-profit company, The Key, and $20,000 directly to Singer. Wilson falsely categorized part of these payments as a business expense and the rest as a charitable contribution. In 2018, he approached Singer again to secure the admission of his two daughters to college as athletic recruits in sports they did not play at the collegiate level, again seeking ways to make the payments tax-deductible.
William “Rick” Singer had previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 42 months in prison on January 4, 2023, in connection with the college admissions case.
For more information on the College Admissions Case, you can visit this link: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/investigations-college-admissions-and-testing-bribery-scheme.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy, Jodi Cohen (Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division), Harry Chavis, Jr. (Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigations in Boston), and Terry Harris (Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General Eastern Regional Office). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephen E. Frank, Leslie A. Wright, Kristen A. Kearney, and Ian Stearns of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit.
By FCCT Editorial Team
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